Synthesis of Brassinolide, a Plant Growth Steroid

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Brassinolide is a steroid found in many plants. It stimulates the growth of a wide variety of crops, including rice, wheat, beans, potatoes, radishes, and lettuce. However, the use of brassinolide or an analog to improve crop production has been hindered by a lack of readily available materials. Furthermore, the lack of radioactive brassinolide has also hindered research towards understanding the biochemical mechanism of its action and the development of new uses for the compound. The present proposal is based on the procedure for synthesizing brassinolide designed by Dr. Trevor McMorris. The specific objectives are: 1) improve the synthetic procedure, 2) prepare gram quantities of brassinolide and 3) demonstrate the synthesis of radioactive brassinolide. An inexpensive brassinolide has excellent potential as a growth promoter for high value vegetable crops and certain field crops.